Enviro

High-tide floods – also called nuisance floods or sunny day floods – are already a familiar problem in many cities on the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported a total of more than 600 such floods in 2019. Starting in the mid-2030s, however, the alignment of rising sea […]

Climate change is, arguably, the biggest environmental challenge the global population faces today. To address this major issue, decision-makers not only need accurate information on how our world is changing now, but also predictions on what may happen in the future. A sound knowledge of how Earth behaves as one system is the foundation to […]

A new report, released today by Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), presents evidence that oil and gas companies including ExxonMobil and Chevron have used per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and/or substances that can degrade into PFAS, in hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) for oil and gas in more than 1,200 wells in six U.S. states between 2012 […]

Current rates of plastic emissions globally may trigger effects that we will not be able to reverse, argues a new study by researchers from Sweden, Norway and Germany published on July 2nd in Science. According to the authors, plastic pollution is a global threat, and actions to drastically reduce emissions of plastic to the environment […]

The world’s remotest water towers are in retreat. The snows of Kilimanjaro in Africa are diminishing: between 1986 and 2017 the area of ice that crowns the most famous mountain in Tanzania has decreased by 71%. A tropical glacier near Puncak Jaya in Papua in Indonesia has lost 93% of its ice in the 38 years from 1980 […]

SAN LUIS OBISPO, June 29, 2021 — When it comes to climate change, not all organisms will lose out. A new Cal Poly study finds that rattlesnakes are likely to benefit from a warming climate. A combination of factors makes a warming climate beneficial to rattlesnakes that are found in almost every part of the […]

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, the latest spacecraft to monitor sea surface height, releases its first science measurements to users. After six months of check-out and calibration in orbit, the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite will make its first two data streams available to the public on June 22. It launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Nov. […]

New technology could help cities around the world improve people’s lives while saving billions of dollars. The free, open-source software developed by the Stanford Natural Capital Project creates maps to visualize the links between nature and human wellbeing. City planners and developers can use the software to visualize where investments in nature, such as parks and marshlands, can maximize […]

University of Delaware disaster researcher A.R. Siders said it’s time to put all the options on the table when it comes to discussing climate change adaptation. Managed retreat — the purposeful movement of people, buildings and other assets from areas vulnerable to hazards — has often been considered a last resort. But Siders said it can be […]

WASHINGTON, June 16, 2021­ – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today pushed back the effective date for implementation of the Trump Administration’s federal drinking water regulation, the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, until December 2021. The much-ballyhooed Trump-era Rule, which left millions of people exposed to toxic lead in drinking water, in many cases for another 33 years or more, […]

In continuing proactive efforts to protect migratory birds, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today released its Birds of Conservation Concern 2021 report. The publication identifies 269 species of birds that represent high conservation priorities for the Service and deserve proactive attention. This science will be used for cooperative research, monitoring and management actions that can directly […]

Following a petition and lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that the beardless chinchweed will receive protection as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The Service designated 10,604 acres in Pima, Cochise and Santa Cruz counties in Arizona as protected critical habitat for the rare sunflower. Beardless chinchweed […]

WASHINGTON, June 10, 2021— Climate, indigenous, and conservation groups today called on the Biden administration to halt new drilling permits and to cancel unlawful Trump-era oil and gas leases on public lands. The letter urges the Interior Department to enact a range of interim actions to protect the climate, public lands, oceans and communities pending […]

Smithsonian scientists and their collaborators have found new evidence that prehistoric Indigenous peoples did not significantly alter large swaths of forest ecosystems in the western Amazon, effectively preserving large areas of rainforests to be unmodified or used in sustainable ways that did not reshape their composition. The new findings are the latest in a long […]

Converting Central American tropical forests into agricultural land is changing the colour and composition of natural material washing into nearby rivers, making it less likely to decompose before it reaches the ocean, a new Southampton-led study has shown. The flow of dissolved organic material, such as soil, from land to the oceans plays an important […]

Popular pet flea collars and treatments contain high levels of toxic PFAS chemicals, according to laboratory test results posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are associated with a variety of ailments, including suppressed immune function, thyroid disease, testicular and kidney cancers and liver damage. Popular flea and tick products were sent […]

Climate experts warn that, without urgent action, climate change will continue to cause an increase in the intensity of extreme rainfall that can lead to severe flooding. An international research team have concluded that increases in extreme rainfall and associated flooding are projected to continue as global temperatures continue to rise. Efforts to limit warming […]